Let them eat cake

We had four children this weekend. I've previously mentioned the deal we have with Tom's brother and his wife where one month we have their boys for a weekend and the next month they take the girls. It's a win-win, every two months each couple has a whole weekend to themselves and the kids get to spend a weekend every month with their cousins. It's no hardship having the boys, the kids all play happily and pretty much entertain themselves (we keep the sugar to minimum* otherwise it starts to look a bit like Lord of the Flies). Then there's the added advantage that at the end of it we get to be grateful once more that we decided to stop at two.

This time we decided to have a lunch when the boys' parents (let's call them A & S to maintain their privacy) came to pick them up on Sunday. It's Tom's birthday this week so an early party seemed in order.

It was a hot day so we dusted off the Weber, set a table under the Willows and T cooked roast beef for the carnivores, we had Greek salad (using our own tomatoes and basil), a fabulous vegetable bake provided by A & S, some crusty bread and nice wine. I made Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake for the birthday boy (on Hannah's request) and we all have a sugar high that it will take a week to come down from. Happy day.

Here's the evidence (deliberately obscured to protect privacy) just enjoy that dappled sunlight.

Here's the cake....looks pretty deadly on the outside doesn't it?

Check out the inside - yes it's meant to be as moist and gooey as that - the 'quadruple chocolate' is cocoa, dark chocolate chips, chocolate syrup poured over the cake so that it soaks in and dark chocolate pieces sprinkled over. Sugar overdose. Delicious sugar overdose.

I'd love to provide the recipe but it would be breach of copyright however I may or may not be able to provide it by to any one who emails me. For the law-abiding among you it's in this book.

Alternatively it might be a safer option for your blood sugar levels and your BMI to just bask in it's chocolatey glory vicariously through these pictures.....nah, make the cake (it's very, very easy).

* While we try to keep sugar to minimum over the weekend we are quite happy to sugar them up before sending them home. We're evil that way.